Decode Your VIN
Enter your vehicle's VIN code to discover all technical specifications. The VIN consists of 17 alphanumeric characters.
Honda Accord VIN Decoder
Decode any Honda Accord VIN free in under three seconds. Type the 17-character vehicle identification number into the decoder above and pull the generation, model year, chassis code, engine, trim, transmission, plant of origin, and open NHTSA recalls. No account, no credit card, no email gate.
This page is the dedicated Honda Accord hub: generation-by-generation chassis codes, the plants that have built one since Honda started assembling cars in the US, engine codes from the CB-chassis cars of the early 1990s through today’s CY-chassis hybrid, a position-by-position guide, and where the VIN is stamped.
About the Honda Accord
The Accord launched in Japan in 1976 and reached the US the same year. On November 1, 1982, a silver-gray Accord with the plate “USA 001” rolled off the line at Honda’s new plant in Marysville, Ohio, the first time a Japanese automaker built cars on US soil. That original car now sits in the Henry Ford Museum. Honda has since built more than 13 million Accords in Marysville alone.
Since the first 17-character VIN era began (Accords sold from 1981 onward), the model has gone through ten more generations:
| Generation | Years | Chassis code | Body | Built at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | 1982-1985 | SY/SZ (Japan), AC/AD (US) | Sedan, hatchback | Sayama, Japan; Marysville, Ohio |
| 3rd | 1986-1989 | CA1-CA6 | Sedan, coupe, wagon | Sayama, Japan; Marysville, Ohio; Alliston, Ontario |
| 4th | 1990-1993 | CB7/CB9 | Sedan, coupe, wagon | Marysville, Ohio; East Liberty, Ohio; Sayama, Japan |
| 5th | 1994-1997 | CD3-CD9, CE1 (wagon) | Sedan, coupe, wagon | Marysville, Ohio; East Liberty, Ohio; El Salto, Mexico |
| 6th | 1998-2002 | CF8-CF9, CG1-CG9, CH1-CH8 | Sedan, coupe | Marysville, Ohio; Sayama, Japan |
| 7th | 2003-2007 | CM4-CM8 (NA sedan/coupe), CL7-CL9 (JDM/Euro) | Sedan, coupe | Marysville, Ohio; Sayama, Japan; Swindon, UK |
| 8th | 2008-2012 | CP1-CP3 (sedan), CS1-CS2 (coupe) | Sedan, coupe | Marysville, Ohio; Sayama, Japan |
| 9th | 2013-2017 | CR2-CR7 (sedan), CT1-CT2 (coupe) | Sedan, coupe | Marysville, Ohio |
| 10th | 2018-2022 | CV1-CV3 | Sedan | Marysville, Ohio |
| 11th | 2023-present | CY1-CY2 | Sedan | Marysville, Ohio |
The chassis code shows up in the VIN at positions 4 and 5 (a two-letter prefix, followed by digits that narrow down body style and drivetrain). A 2024 Accord Hybrid built in Marysville carries CY inside its VIN; a 2021 turbo sedan carries CV. We confirmed this pattern by decoding real, checksum-valid Accord VINs across six generations through the NHTSA vPIC API, including a 1987 Japan-built CA-chassis car (JHMCA5487HC068909), a 1991 Marysville-built CB-chassis car (1HGCB7665MA158265), a 1999 CG-chassis car, a 2021 CV-chassis car, and a 2024 CY-chassis hybrid. All five decoded clean, plant and chassis code matching the table above.
Honda Accord WMI codes (positions 1 to 3)
The first three characters of a VIN form the World Manufacturer Identifier, assigned by SAE on behalf of ISO. Per Honda and Acura’s own VIN identification filing with NHTSA, these are the WMIs that show up on a genuine Honda Accord:
| WMI | Country | Manufacturer entity | Accord generations built here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1HG | USA | Honda of America Mfg., Inc. | 2nd through 11th (Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio) |
| JHM | Japan | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | 1st through 8th (Sayama plant, JDM and early export cars) |
| 2HG | Canada | Honda of Canada Mfg., Inc. | 3rd through 8th (Alliston, Ontario) |
| SHH | United Kingdom | Honda of the UK Mfg., Ltd. | 6th and 7th (Swindon, Wiltshire, European-market cars) |
| 3HG | Mexico | Honda de Mexico | 5th generation wagon (El Salto, Jalisco) |
If your Accord VIN starts with anything other than the codes above, treat it as suspect. A VIN beginning with WBA or JTD, for example, is not a Honda, regardless of what the title says. Decode the full VIN with the tool at the top of the page to confirm.
How to decode a Honda Accord VIN, position by position
Every Accord built since the 1981 model year uses the 17-character ISO 3779 standard. The string breaks into three blocks, and each character carries specific meaning.
Positions 1 to 3: World Manufacturer Identifier
See the table above. The first character is the country of build, the second identifies the manufacturing entity, and the third narrows down vehicle type. Worth knowing: the country code identifies the factory, not the brand’s headquarters. A Marysville-built Accord is still a genuine Honda even though the WMI (1HG) has nothing to do with Japan.
Positions 4 to 8: Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS)
This is where the Accord gets specific, and it works a little differently than some brands. Honda doesn’t reserve one fixed character purely for engine. Instead, positions 4 and 5 carry the two-letter chassis code (CY, CV, CR, CP, CM, CG, CD, CB, CA, and so on), and positions 6 through 8 combine body style, trim, and drivetrain into a model code that Honda maps to a specific engine in its own annual filings. Honda’s official 2012 model-code table, filed with NHTSA under 49 CFR Part 565, gives real examples for the 8th-generation Accord:
| Model code (positions 4-8) | Trim | Engine |
|---|---|---|
| CP2E3 / CP2F3 | LX sedan | K24Z2 (2.4L I4) |
| CP2F7 / CP2F8 | EX / EX-L sedan | K24Z3 (2.4L I4) |
| CP3F7 / CP3F8 | EX-V6 / EX-L-V6 sedan | J35Z2 (3.5L V6) |
| CS1A3-CS1B8 | LX/EX/EX-L coupe | K24Z3 (2.4L I4) |
| CS2A8 / CS2B8 | EX-L-V6 coupe | J35Z2 / J35Z3 (3.5L V6) |
The same pattern holds elsewhere, confirmed through Honda’s filings or by decoding real VINs against vPIC: CB/CD/CE cars ran the F22-series 4-cylinder; CF/CG/CH cars ran the F23-series 4-cylinder and J30A1 V6; CM cars ran the K24A 4-cylinder and J30A4 V6; CR/CT cars ran the K24Z7 and J35Y6, plus the LFA1 hybrid four; the CV1 we decoded carries the L15BE 1.5-liter turbo four, and the CY2 hybrid we decoded carries the LFC5 2.0-liter hybrid four. The exact code varies by trim and model year within a generation, so use the decoder tool above to confirm the precise engine on any individual VIN.
Position 9: Check digit
The check digit is the one character in the VIN that catches typos. It’s calculated from the other 16 characters using a fixed weighting table and modulo-11 math. Mistype a single character anywhere in the VIN and the math no longer matches; any compliant decoder, every state DMV, and the NHTSA recall database will reject the entry. This is the reason “look up by VIN” is more reliable than “look up by license plate” for confirming a specific car.
Position 10: Model year
The 10th character maps to model year on a repeating cycle defined by the same federal regulation Honda cites in its own VIN filing (49 CFR 565.4). It’s identical across every manufacturer and every brand on this site:
| Char | Year | Char | Year | Char | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 1981 | 9 | 2009 | K | 2019 |
| C | 1982 | A | 2010 | L | 2020 |
| D | 1983 | B | 2011 | M | 2021 |
| E | 1984 | C | 2012 | N | 2022 |
| F | 1985 | D | 2013 | P | 2023 |
| G | 1986 | E | 2014 | R | 2024 |
| H | 1987 | F | 2015 | S | 2025 |
| J | 1988 | G | 2016 | T | 2026 |
| K | 1989 | H | 2017 | ||
| L | 1990 | J | 2018 |
The letters I, O, and Q are skipped because they look like 1 and 0. The cycle repeats every 30 years. Use the WMI and chassis code together to disambiguate when needed; a CB-chassis Accord was never built in 2021, so if position 10 reads M alongside a CB chassis code, something doesn’t add up.
Position 11: Assembly plant
A single character identifies the specific factory. This table comes directly from Honda and Acura’s VIN identification filing with NHTSA, restricted here to the plants that have actually built an Accord:
| Char | Plant | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A | Marysville, Ohio, USA | Primary Accord plant since 1982; every generation |
| C | Sayama, Saitama, Japan | Original Accord plant; JDM and early export cars |
| H | Alliston, Ontario, Canada | 3rd through 8th generation |
| L | East Liberty, Ohio, USA | 4th and 5th generation, alongside other Honda models |
| G | El Salto, Jalisco, Mexico | 5th-generation wagon only |
| U | Swindon, Wiltshire, UK | 6th and 7th generation, European-market cars |
Positions 12 to 17: Serial number
The final six characters are the production sequence stamped on your specific Accord as it left the line. Combined with the previous 11 characters, this makes every Accord VIN globally unique. Two cars with the same generation, year, plant, and engine still differ here.
Accord trim levels and how they appear in the VIN
A Honda Accord VIN does not spell out the trim name directly. Trim is reconstructed from the model code (positions 6 to 8) combined with the factory build sheet. The most common North American Accord trims by generation:
- CB/CD/CE (1990-1997): DX, LX, EX, SE
- CG/CH (1998-2002): DX, LX, EX, EX-V6
- CM (2003-2007): LX, EX, EX-L, Hybrid (V6)
- CP/CS (2008-2012): LX, LX-P, SE, EX, EX-L, EX-L V6
- CR/CT (2013-2017): LX, Sport, EX, EX-L, Touring, Hybrid, Hybrid Touring
- CV (2018-2022): LX, Sport, EX-L, Touring, Hybrid, Hybrid Touring
- CY (2023-present): LX, EX-L, Sport, Sport-L, Touring (all hybrid from this generation onward)
When you decode an Accord VIN with the tool above, the result calls the model code, trim, and drivetrain so you can match a window sticker or a build sheet.
Where to find the VIN on a Honda Accord
Four locations on every modern Accord, plus the paperwork:
- Lower-left corner of the windshield, visible from outside the car
- Driver’s side door jamb sticker (open the door to see it)
- Stamped on the firewall in the engine bay
- Stamped on the frame rail under the front of the car
- Vehicle title, registration, insurance card, Honda owner’s app
The windshield and door jamb are the easiest to read on a used-car lot. The firewall and frame stamps are the ones to check if you suspect a cloned plate; they’re physically tied to the car and much harder to swap.
Honda Accord recalls and safety
The Accord has been swept into two of the largest recall campaigns in automotive history. The Takata airbag inflator recall covers 2001-2002 Accords equipped with the “Alpha” driver inflator, which Honda and NHTSA say can rupture at a rate as high as 50 percent and has been linked to fatalities; a separate 2015 national action added roughly 1.39 million previously unrecalled inflators across 2003-2007 Accords. Both were expanded multiple times as Takata’s defect investigation widened.
More recently, Honda recalled millions of 2013-2023 Accords (an expansion of earlier campaigns 20V-314 and 21V-215) for a fuel pump that can fail inside the tank and stall the engine while driving. Separately, certain 2013-2016 Accords were recalled over a battery sensor case that can let water in and short the electrical system.
To check your specific Accord:
- Decode the VIN with the tool above to confirm the exact model and year
- Cross-reference the 17-character VIN with Honda’s US recall lookup or NHTSA’s recall database
- Contact your nearest Honda dealer service department for any open campaign repair
Recall repairs are free regardless of vehicle age, mileage, or ownership history.
Frequently asked questions
How do I decode a Honda Accord VIN?
Type the 17-character VIN from the windshield, door jamb, or title into the decoder at the top of this page. Results return in under three seconds and include generation, chassis code, model year, engine, transmission, drivetrain, plant, and any open NHTSA recalls. No sign-up.
Where is the VIN on a Honda Accord?
The two easiest spots are the lower-left corner of the windshield (read from outside the car) and the driver-side door jamb sticker. Both are required by federal labelling regulation. The firewall and frame rail carry physical stamps that match the same number.
What does a Honda Accord VIN starting with 1HG mean?
1HG is the WMI for Honda of America Mfg., Inc., which builds Accords in Marysville and, historically, East Liberty, Ohio. A VIN starting 1HG means the car was assembled in the United States, not Japan, regardless of the fact that Honda is a Japanese company.
How do I tell the generation of my Accord from the VIN?
Look at positions 4 and 5 (the chassis code). CY is the 11th generation (2023 onward). CV is the 10th (2018-2022). CR/CT is the 9th (2013-2017). CP/CS is the 8th (2008-2012). CM/CL is the 7th (2003-2007). CG/CH/CF is the 6th (1998-2002). CD/CE is the 5th (1994-1997). CB is the 4th (1990-1993). The 10th character then confirms the exact model year.
Is the Honda Accord VIN decoder really free?
Yes. VinDecoderPlus decodes every Honda Accord VIN free of charge with no sign-up. The basic decode covers everything the factory stamped into the VIN. A full vehicle history report (accident records, odometer history, prior ownership, salvage status) is available as a paid upgrade if you need it.
Can a Honda Accord VIN be faked?
The 17 characters can be retyped on a counterfeit plate, but the check digit at position 9 catches most single-character changes through math, and the firewall and frame stamps are physically tied to the original car. If the windshield and door-jamb VINs match but the firewall stamp doesn’t, the car has likely been cloned. The guide how to check if a car is stolen by VIN walks through the verification steps.
Decode any Honda Accord VIN free
Type your 17-character Accord VIN into the decoder at the top of this page for an instant breakdown. To go deeper into VIN structure or check other Honda models:
- Honda VIN decoder hub for the brand-wide guide
- How to read a VIN number for the general standard
- What every character in a VIN means for a position-by-position reference
- Classic car VIN decoder for pre-1981 and early Accords
- VIN decoder vs. vehicle history report for what a decode covers vs. what it doesn’t
